The 'new' killer whale and seal field scientists for the 2017/18 13-month long expedition to Marion Island are into their first month alone since the ship departed back to RSA with all the Takeover - and previous expedition team members.

Yinhla Shihlomule is back for a 2nd year as sealer, being joined by Andre van Tonder and Rowan Jordaan for the year.

The 2017 5-week Relief voyage (Takeover) ended a WEEK ago, with the SA Agulhas II bringing home the 2016/2017 killer whale and seal field personnel, Nasreen Khan, Kyle Lloyd and Sydney Tshilingalinga (the latter two will be taking on PhD and MSc degrees respectively, at the University of Pretoria with Principal Investigator, Nico de Bruyn).

ENJOY THE YEAR YINHLA, ANDRE AND ROWAN!